Resources on Elders (2)

Stephen recently preached a 7-part series on Elders ahead of our forthcoming elder election on 18th January. Having previously listed some resources on elders, here are some more - with a focus on older, Scottish resources:

16th Century

• The Second Book of Discipline (1578) has a couple of useful sections on elders. It also states the historic Scottish position on how office bearers are to be chosen - namely ‘by the judgment of the eldership and consent of the congregation’.

17th Century

• The Covenanter James Guthrie published A Treatise of Ruling Elders and Deacons in 1652, following a request from the General Assembly of the church.

  He contended in the preface that God's wrath lay on the Church of Scotland because of 'rotten' church members and officers, polluting the whole. 'We have boasted of a Reformation of the ordinances', he wrote 'without seeking as really to reform Church-Officers, and Church-Members, according to the pattern thereof'. Guthrie's little book, aiming to summarise existing publications on the topic, was therefore an important contribution to furthering the covenanted work of Reformation in the 17th century in the area of church government. Indeed, while some things Guthrie addresses may no longer be around (eg the office of Doctor), much of it is still relevant. He warns elders against only punishing (certain kinds of) sins of commission, while ignoring sins of omission. He addresses the question of what to do if unqualified men have already been elected. He urges that if deacons are required to be tested before appointed, how much more should elders be? His pastoral heart comes through as he warns elders not to use church discipline as punishment or penance but 'a spiritual medicine, for humbling and gaining of the soul'. His encouragement to deacons tempted to count their office as less significant is a particular highlight: 'The Lord Jesus himself did not disdain to wash his disciples' feet; angels are all of them ministering Spirits, sent forth to minister for their sakes who are appointed to be heirs of Salvation; why then should any think it below them to serve the Church of Christ, and to minister to the Saints in this employment?'

18th Century

• A sermon preached by Scottish Borders minister Thomas Boston - on the day of an elder ordination - entitled ‘The Duties of Ruling Elders and People’. Under his section on the duty of the people to their elders, Boston says: "Can you fall upon a more expedite way to advance the kingdom of the devil in the congregation, than to discourage and weaken the hands of those who are set over you in the Lord? Is there a fairer way to rout the army, than to make their leaders useless?"

20th Century

• From a historical point of view, G. D. Henderson’s book The Scottish Ruling Elder (1935), contains a wealth of information, going back to the time of the Covenanters. He notes: “One of the most important steps taken by the early Covenanters…was to ensure the restoration of the ruling elder to a position of effectiveness”

21st Century

• In 2006 the RP Church of Ireland produced A Manual for Elders, stating ‘For the past 150 years the Reformed Presbyterian Church has rightly placed much emphasis on the training of its teaching elders. However we have not place a similar emphasis on the training those men who are called by God to the 'ruling' eldership in our congregations. The purpose of this manual is to seek to equip, encourage and train elders to carry out their God-given task’.

Resources on Elders

We’ve recently begun a series on Elders ahead of an elder election in January, God-willing. There are many good resources on eldership out there - here are a few, divided up by format.

Audio

Although the talk is entitled ‘Obeying Elders’, it also gives a good overview of what the elder’s role is. Matt Kingswood is pastor of Russell RP Church in Canada.

(These talks are also available as articles - see below)

(Part of a tremendous series of 3 talks from Catalyst 2017)

Some of the sermons from our occasional series on ‘The Church’ are also relevant - particularly, How Jesus Runs the Church and The Keys of the Kingdom.

Articles

A Biblical View of Eldership: Four articles by Eric Alexander, one of the leading evangelicals of the Church of Scotland in the 20th Century (audio versions above).

5 Ugly Qualities of the anti-Elder: Tim Challies gives a run-down of what the Bible says elders shouldn’t be like.

Elders—The Church’s Lead Disciple-Makers: Helpful reminder of the goal of the elder’s various tasks

An Elder’s Checklist: Article by David Murray based on one of the books mentioned below. Aimed at elders, but also useful for showing others what an elder’s role looks like in practice

Books

Very helpful recent book on church government by Guy Waters.

An older book, The Elder and his Work, by David Dickson (a Free Church of Scotland elder - not the Covenanter) is available to read online here. David P. Murray has a helpful outline of it here.

See also: Top 10 books for elders (David Murray)

James McConnell: Nolan has a point (Newspaper article)

I don't often agree with Stephen Nolan. Usually when the outspoken BBC presenter interviews Christians he comes across as antagonistic and needlessly provocative. Rather than getting to the heart of an issue, he seems more interested in provoking a reaction (and sadly often succeeds).

But watching his recent documentary with controversial Belfast pastor James McConnell, I think Nolan hit the nail on the head. The 79-year-old's family opposed his decision to take part in the documentary, given Nolan's coverage of controversial remarks McConnell made about Islam in 2014. They needn't have worried however. Nolan brought out the lesser-known, sensitive side of a man from a tough background, orphaned early in life. For his part, McConnell acknowledged his aggressive nature and anger issues.

But at the end of the 30-minute programme, Nolan raised his biggest concern:

'Can I level with you? I wondered before I met you, and I still wonder, how much danger there is in one man appointing themselves as a preacher in a local community ... That's dangerous. Is that fair?'

To his credit, McConnell acknowledged: 'that's fair enough'. And it's not just Nolan who sees it as a danger. The Bible itself knows nothing of self-appointed preachers. Nor does it know anything of independent churches, such as McConnell's Metropolitan Tabernacle. The Apostle Paul asks: 'How are they to preach unless they are sent?' The New Testament describes only inter-dependent churches which must submit to a wider body (eg Acts 15).

McConnell and Whitewell show us the practical implications of preaching the gospel but ignoring other parts of the Bible's teaching. The courts decided last year that his remarks about Muslims weren’t illegal. But who decides if what he said was harmful to the reputation of Jesus and his church? Contrary to the Bible's teaching, McConnell isn't answerable to any Christ-appointed church authority.

And what happens now the charismatic preacher has retired? Numbers have already fallen dramatically. What if his successor preaches a different gospel? Who is there to step in and stop him? Nor is that just a question that independent churches must face - many denominations have ended up in the same place because ministers and elders have been appointed who don't believe in Jesus and don't care what the Bible says.

I regard McConnell as a brother in Christ. But we ignore the Bible's checks and balances at our peril.

Published in Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 2nd February 2017

Church membership: how the world knows who represents Jesus (book review)

Church Membership: how the Bible knows who represents Jesus
Jonathan Leeman
Crossway, 2012

Isn't it enough to just go to a church? What does it mean to join a church? Is it something for others but not for you? If you are a member of your church, how should that affect your life?

If you have ever wondered about any of those questions, this book is a must-read. We live at a time when 'organised religion' is looked on with suspicion if not horror. But within the 130 pages of this short book, Jonathan Leeman shows that church membership is expected by the Bible and absolutely vital.

There is much here for long-time church members as well as those new to the concept. Most church members would never imagine that the local church should affect decisions such as where to live or whether to take promotions at work - but Leeman shows that it should.

Even in churches where people could argue the Biblical case for church membership, members often don't have the slightest clue how they should interact with those under church discipline. Leeman here addresses that issue too.

As he's coming from a Baptist perspective, we wouldn't go with absolutely everything in the book, though Leeman himself acknowledges that in the New Testament 'Christians are ordinarily united to individual but interconnected churches' (which sounds a lot more like the Presbyterian position than the Baptist one!). However those minor disagreements don't detract from an absolutely brilliant book.

Cheapest online price: £6.79 delivered

Those wanting to read more on what the church is and how it should be run should check out Guy Waters's How Jesus Runs the Church (150 pages) or, if you're really keen, James Bannerman's The Church of Christ (1000 pages - though a great abridged version is also available).